Western Lakes Training Club AKC Agility Trial
No double Q’s but a good weekend nonetheless! Judges Jill Roberts and Thomas O’Brien set some very tricky courses. Quite low Q rates on some of them. They were VERY fun and fast courses to run, we had a blast.
Nina FINALLY finished her Excellent FAST title today (we’d been sitting with two legs for ages), won Time 2 Beat both times she ran it, and picked up two Jumpers legs for 18 points on Friday and 16 points today.
And ZHORA! Zhora was the superstar! This trial is held in an indoor soccer complex, and it is a large, noisy and somewhat overwhelming place. Zhora has only ever trialed on mats at Countryside, has only run one day here and there (just 7 trial days total for her so far, counting this trial!), this was artificial turf. She has been to the venue a few times, but has never run there before. So this was a new and noisy venue, new footing, more wide-open rings, etc. and she absolutely THRIVED on that energy, she was wild and sassy but still worked with me AND picked up her last Novice Standard leg needed for her very first agility title, her Novice Agility (NA) title. And she would have qualified in Novice Jumpers too, but I elected not to go back and fix a missed jump when she was running fast and happy (you have to take the long view – I am trying to train the dog I want to have in a couple of years, so I want trialing to be fun and exciting for her, so she runs fast and happy – if that means losing a Q to make sure the experience stays upbeat and fun then so be it).
AND! With Zhora’s first title, Nina now becomes eligible for her Register of Merit (ROM) from the Swedish Vallhund Club of America, for being the mother of three AKC titled offspring (and Zhora also earned her father Tempest (Mystarz Baileys Blazer) his ROMX.
(Camera issues with a couple of the videos)
Nina Friday Jumpers (18 points):
Nina Friday Time 2 Beat (first place for 10 points):
Nina Saturday Time 2 Beat (first place for 10 points):
Zhora Saturday Jumpers (no Q, but I was so happy with how she worked – I had to settle her down at the weaves, since she was SO excited, but she settled down and worked):
Zhora Saturday Standard (Q and Novice Agility title):
Nina Sunday FAST (Q, first place and Excellent FAST title):
Nina Sunday Jumpers (Q and 16 points):
Nina’s 2015 Nationals tally: 2/4 double Q’s, 20/20 legs, 384/500 points